Digi-Scrapping Decoded (Updated)

I know we’ve got quite a few new folks joining our community lately. I won’t assume that you’re all newbies to digi-scrapping; that would be presumptuous.  But if you ARE a newbie, I’ve created a little glossary of digi-scrapping terms and acronyms for you. I think I’ll start with some generalities then move on to more specific stuff. (Updated from the original post dated 17 September 2019)

Let’s start with Software related terms.

PS : Photoshop – the most versatile and flexible graphics and image-editing software, from Adobe; expensive with a steep learning curve

PS CC : Photoshop Creative Cloud – a software package that is subscription based, on a monthly basis paid annually; identical to Photoshop above also includes access to online storage (at extra cost). If you don’t renew your subscription or miss a payment, you lose the license for using the software.

PSE: Photoshop Elements – a more economical choice of software, with many shared features with PS but a slightly less-steep learning curve; the most common software in use for both photo editing and digital scrapbooking according to several polls I’ve seen

Gimp: Gnu Image Manipulation Program – a free, cross-platform raster-based image editing software, also quite popular in the digi-scrapping world; it doesn’t allow for non-destructive editing. When using commercial templates, the PSD, TIFF and PNG  formats are compatible (see below)

Artisan: Forever’s digital scrapbooking and photo editing software – less versatile than either PS, PSE or Gimp; close in price to PSE. Autopopulates pre-designed layouts; no ability to use layered templates but is compatible with most digi-scrapping kits. Forever has a small selection of digi kits and a line of photo-based products similar to Shutterfly. My Memories Suite is comparable, but less costly.

Canva: Free online graphic arts application with on-screen step-by-step instructions. It has an AI component for those who don’t see themselves as artistically gifted. I haven’t test-driven it, so can’t comment on ease of use or versatility. I did try it for vector creation and didn’t love it. I felt like it had a pretty steep learning curve.

Layout: an arrangement of images – photos, papers, elements and text – for artistic or documentary purposes. Also LO.

Template: a file containing multiple layers; the layers build a layout from the background up, indicating where paper, elements and text will go. Templates speed up your workflow by eliminating much of the decision-making necessary for positioning items on your layouts, but still allowing for a lot of originality.

Clip: visually altering a photo or paper by attaching and “cutting” it to fit inside a specified outline. (Think multiple layers of paper in different sizes and shapes.)

Clipping mask: a defined shape with uniform or variable opacity, to which papers or photos may be clipped.

Brush: the digital equivalent of rubber or acrylic stamps

Stroke: a customizable outline around an object; options are colour, width, transparency and whether it goes inside, right over or outside the edge of the object

Style: a method of altering the appearance of an object that may include bevel (gives the look of thicker or embossed material), drop shadow (darker, semi-transparent outline), inner glow (highlighted area inside the outline) and outer glow (highlighted area outside the outline) and colour (variably transparent, often completely covers the underlying colour)

Filter: adjusts the appearance of objects or surfaces to resemble other media such as watercolour, mosaic or texture; also includes some options for blurring

Action: a series of automated commands that instruct the software to make adjustments to photos or other images; actions “run” on the image to edit them quickly and easily with some options for manual tweaking. There are a number of sources for actions, including a bunch of free ones from the Coffeeshop blog. They take your really nice photo and elevate it to outstanding in less than a minute!

Extraction: digitally removing the background from a photo or scan; the equivalent of using cuticle scissors to cut out a face or other image from a “real” photo

PNG: Portable Network Graphic – a raster-based object with a transparent background, the format which allows resizing without loss of detail; the most common use of this is for digital elements.

Raster: Bit-mapped images – a grid of individual pixels that together form an image

PSD: Photoshop Document – the entire collection of layers which have been created or altered in the creation of an image; the format for PS and PSE friendly templates

TIFF: Tagged Image File Format – another way of saving a compressed multi-layered document like a template without losing detail; creates a file smaller than a PSD but larger than a JPEG

JPEG: Joint Photographic Expert Group – a compressed image file with some loss of detail, but generally not noticeably so; the most common file type for storage and sharing of digital photos and other images

Are you thoroughly confused? Wait… it’s about to get worse! We’re moving on to digi-scrapping community acronyms and terms.

GSO: Gallery Stand Out – a term first coined by the digi-scrapping blog Fingerpointing; the blog began as a way for new digi-scrappers to learn how to grow their skills through example and constructive criticism. Now it’s more of a place for digi-scrappers to reap the rewards and accolades afforded to excellence. A team of respected digi-scrap artists browse through digital galleries for the major online digi-scrapping communities then post a mini-gallery of their picks for the day with a description of what drew them to the layouts. I’ve had the huge honour of having TWO layouts so recognized this summer.

LOTD: Layout of the Day – some online communities include a layout chosen by the staff of their store as layout of the day according to criteria they determine for their particular community

LOTW: Layout of the Week – here at GingerScraps, we have a weekly GSO that is selected by the community itself. And that segués into the GS-specific stuff…

(inter)National Scrapbooking Day: Traditionally the first Saturday in May (right around my birthday!) (i)NSD is a celebration of our communities, with sales, games, prizes and lots of fun. (Pro tip: clear some space on your hard drive!)

Digital Scrapbooking Day: Originally DSD was the first Saturday in November, but with most of the digital shops located in the US, it ran uncomfortably close to Thanksgiving, so it was moved to the first Saturday in October. (Canadian Thanksgiving isn’t much of a to-do.) Very similar to (i)NSD.

Sugar Cookie: a member of the GS praise team. These ladies have a responsibility to make sure ALL people who post their layouts in the GS Gallery are seen and commented upon, part of our friendly, welcoming attitude. So the Cookies spend time looking at layouts, sometimes dissecting them for special techniques (right glee?), then leaving some love for the scrapper. Another one of their responsibilities is to choose the contenders for LOTW through…

Baker’s Best: a layout that makes a special impact on the viewer. Anyone can make a nomination for Baker’s Best by indicating it in a comment left under the layout then posting in the Baker’s Best forum thread. The Cookies must choose one each week. And as a former Cookie, I’ll tell you… IT’S HARD to pick just one!! Karen Diamond manages the BB program; she notifies each of the contenders for LOTW so they can check out their competition and ensuring their layout gets at least one vote.

Fresh Baked: GingerScraps’ name for the weekly new releases.

The Buffet: all designer kits created using the colour palette of the month, as chosen by Ginger; they release on the first day of the month. These kits/collections are on sale for the first 5 days of each month then go to regular price.

Bake Sale: a selection of kits chosen by the designers that are on sale for just a SINGLE DOLLAR for 5 days, from the 15th to 20th each month.

Monthly Mix: a huge collaboration collection created by the GingerBread Ladies team of designers that is only $5.25 for the entire month it’s released in, after which it goes to the regular price of $7. This month’s Monthly Mix is Under the Stars. You still have a couple of days to grab it before it hits the regular price.

Cookie Jar: where you keep track of your Challenge layouts so you can win the Challenge Reward kit. You will receive this Reward kit, created by the GingerBread Ladies, in the month where you reach 10 challenges completed. Some people get in 10 challenges almost every month and have a ginormous stash of these awesome kits. <hides in the corner>

Scrapathon: GingerScraps‘ twice-a-year no-pressure, no sign-up, no-judging scrapping festival (replacing Scrapping Survivor, which was ALL of those adjectives). Scrapathon is basically GingerScraps Challenges but with a goal of completing more than just 10. There are some rules, which you can read here. The Summer Scrapathon starts on August 1, 2026. Why participate?

{Scrap-A-Thon Challenges Rewards}​

Earn rewards by completing challenges and spreading love in the gallery during the month of August:

• Tier 1 : Complete 10 challenges
  • Earn the usual August Challenge Reward
• Tier 2 : Complete 20 challenges
  • Earn the usual August Challenge Reward
  • Plus: Life In Color MEGA Collab
• Tier 3 : Complete 31 challenges
  • Earn the usual August Challenge Reward
  • Life In Color MEGA Collab
  • $7.00 coupon good toward ANY GingerBread Ladies Collab

But wait! There’s more!! You can earn rewards for leaving (meaningful) comments in the Gallery! All of that is explained in the Forum, linked above.

And there you have it, my friends. A short (by Jan standards, and hardly complete) glossary for digi-scrapping the GingerScraps way!

Paper Folds with a Twist

Alright, you can pick your jaws up off the floor. Yes, I’m here with FRESH content! And I’m late… So. Many. Appointments this month! Anyhoo, Ginger got in touch with me about a tutorial request she received. The GingerScrapper asked about creating a paper fold, but to give the appearance that the paper is double-sided with patterns on both sides. I don’t know who made the request, but I’m happy to refresh a previous tutorial on paper folds for double-sided paper. This is the image the GingerScrapper shared with Ginger.

Let’s get on with it! The screenshot says what to do…

It would be so wonderful if Elements could read our minds and just give us what we want. 😀 The default for three-sided Polygons is to give you an equilateral one. So we’ll have to force it to make a right-angled one. As always, remember to Simplify your Custom Shapes so that you can manipulate them.

In the screenshot below, I’ve Rotated and Moved the shape over so that one edge is (almost) parallel with the right side of the canvas. It’ll make sense when you see how the next steps work. Click Image>Transform>Skew to change the angles.

To make the Transformation, grab the handle – the little square at the upper left corner of the Bounding Box – and drag it down toward the bottom of the canvas. You’ll see the bottom right corner gradually shift to a right angle.

So. The base of the triangle is a LOT wider than the one in the sample layout. So to fix that, go back to Image>Transform>Distort.

Now grab the bottom left handle and drag it down and toward the right corner of the canvas. That move squares up the angle and narrows the fold.

Don’t fret if the triangle isn’t perfectly square. That’s an easy fix. Move the shape right into the corner and let it hang over the edges of the canvas. Then use the Crop Tool to make it perfect.

Drag and drop your background paper onto the canvas underneath the shape layer. I’m using Magical Scraps Galore’s Best of Canada papers.

Then the foreground paper goes ON TOP of the shape layer.

With the foreground paper layer active, Select the edges of the shape by CTRL/CMD>clicking on the shape layer thumbnail. The marching ants will appear. Then Edit>Cut [or CTRL/CMD>X]

Move the foreground layer underneath the shape layer. Then drag the right bottom corner over to the left. Using the Tool Options make sure the triangle is the same size both horizontally and vertically, but flipped. Then line the two long edges up as shown.

The sample layout shows the backside of the foreground paper as a newsprint. Logically, the print should be backwards but we’re going to ignore that. Drop the paper you’ve chosen for the reverse onto the canvas on top of the shape layer.

Once again, Select the edges of the shape layer, but this time, go up to Select>Inverse so that when you Edit>Cut, you’re removing the rest of the paper, leaving the triangle shape there.

There. Now it looks like the tan pattern is on the reverse side of the black diamond patterned paper. Don’t Delete the shape layer though! It’s going to become the shadow layer!

Use the Paint Bucket to Fill the shape layer with the shadow colour of the Style you’re using. (To find out that colour, right-click on the fx icon on any shadow layer of your template or layout then click on the Color Picker box that appears. CTRL/CMD>C will Copy the hex code.) My shadows are black so I used the hex code 000000. Then I nudged the shape so it creates a border as shown.

For a realistic shadow, the shape needs to be softened a bit. To do that, click Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

This dialog box opens. I pulled my Radius slider over to the right and stopped at 11 pixels.

Shadows don’t completely obscure whatever is under them. To achieve that transparency, change the Blend Mode to Linear Burn by clicking on that bar labeled Normal just at the top left of the Layers Panel and scrolling down.

Adjust the Opacity. I went to 50% here.

Just for fun, I added a couple of buttons so this looks more like the sample layout. Now, wasn’t that easy?

Next week is Challenge Spotlight Tuesday! See you then.